Tuesday, 20 December 2011

Prof.
Karrar Husainis a
towering scholar of our times. Equally conversant in religious themes,
literature, history, philosophy and political insight, he is seen as a
beacon-light of guidance (no exaggeration) in all these areas by students and
scholars alike.

It is rather unfortunate that so many of his writings remain
dispersed. While an anthology would definitely be a valuable asset for many, we
shall here mention three of his uncollected writings on Ghalib that need be
remembered on this occasion.

Prof. Karrar Husain was one of the speakers twenty-eight years
ago when Idara Yadgaar-e-Gahlib celebrated the birth centenary of the poet. His
speech (in Urdu), included in the report of the ceremony, focused on the link
between Ghalib and Pakistani culture. An excerpt from the speech embodies his
main thesis: "Ghalib presented a profound positive reaction on an
important turning point in the history of the Indo-Muslim civilisation. The way
he influenced the changing shades of feelings of this civilisation is perhaps a
unique phenomenon in the literary history of the sub-continent. [What we must
remember is that] we had a civilisation even before the making of Pakistan, and
that civilisation did not end when Pakistan came into being. It is this same
Indo-Muslim civilisation that we see, under different geographical and
political circumstances, as the Pakistani civilisation. Therefore, even though
Ghalib wasn’t born in a Pakistani city, and even though there are many
Pakistanis who can’t understand Urdu, and even though the people living in
India have full rights to claim Ghalib as their own, there exists nevertheless
between ourselves and Ghalib that affinity which is imperative for the passing
down of cultural heritage. [The affinity] for the want of which the remains of
the past civilisations born on our own land become exhibits in museums and fail
to develop into legacies."

This speech was delivered in the wake of the deepest cultural
turmoil in the history of Pakistan, the crisis that eventually led to the
breaking up of the country. Without going into the newspaper details (which is
not characteristic of him anyway) Prof. Karrar Husain presented certain
suggestions on cultural reconstruction: "If we have a real critical
awareness of our civilisational heritage, i.e., if it is constitutes a live and
active part of the life of our mind, then we can participate more effectively
in this historical process. To acquire a critical awareness of the past is in
fact participating in that historical process." These words are just as
refreshing today as they were in 1969.

On the same occasion, the Idara commissioned Prof. Karrar Husain
to put down a brief biographical treatise on Ghalib. Ghalib: Sab Achcha Kahein Jissay was
published in Bangla, Punjabi, Balochi, Pushto, Sindhi translations as well as
in the original English. It is a valuable appraisal of Ghalib’s life, time,
mind and art through subjectively written 43 page. What is most admirable is
its analytical mode which persists throughout.

Another writing on the subject, equally interesting, is Prof.
Karrar Husain’s preface to Dr. Aftab Ahmad’sGhalib-e-Ashufta
Nava (1989). Prof. Karrar Husain’s comments which appear as
side remarks while introducing the contents of the book offer brief glimpses
into Ghalib’s mind and art from Karrar Husain’s own point of view.

The one thing for which these writings stand out from many
others about Ghalib is the underlying assumption that the writer as well as the
reader are themselves a continuation of Ghalib’s own civilisation at a
different point in time and space. This awareness is a legacy of Karrar
Husain’s generation, for whom the relations with the previous century and the
previous phase of history were very much visible while it was growing up. The
ones that are coming after need to take this on too. And it seems, depressing
as it may be, that there is little willingness to promote that message today.
Ghalib is one magnificent bridge that stands between the civilisation that is
Pakistan and the thousand years of glory that were Indo-Muslim civilisation. To
sever links with the mind of Ghalib would be to let go everything that our
ancestors took a millennium to build – and we seem to have taken merely fifty
years to destroy.